Gore's counsel Ron Klain to Lopez Obrador: "Don't Take the High Road"

[DeepModem Mom]

Washington Post op-ed: MEXICO'S BUSH V. GORE MOMENT
Don't Take the High Road
By Ronald Klain
Sunday, July 9, 2006; Page B01

For the presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, narrowly declared the loser to Felipe Calderòn in Mexico's much-disputed returns, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that he has avoided the two biggest problems that confronted Al Gore in Recount 2000: being forced to contest the election in a jurisdiction where the governor was his opponent's brother, and being tormented by a chief election official who was a partisan operative with a bizarre Queen Esther complex. The bad news, however, is that, where Gore trailed in the initial tally in Florida by fewer than 2,000 votes, Lopez Obrador is more than 200,000 votes behind. It's only a matter of time before the Mexican equivalent of our pundit class begins its demands for "finality."

For Lopez Obrador, the clock is ticking loudly. If he wants to keep his candidacy alive, he must take decisive -- and quite divisive -- action. He must bring meaningful and documented claims of fraud in the election. He must call his supporters to the streets and question the legitimacy of the vote casting and counting process. He must demand that, notwithstanding Mexican law, every ballot be recounted, by hand, to ensure an accurate tally. Above all, he must reject any suggestion that Calderòn received more votes -- indeed, he must insist that any fair count would show that he is the rightful winner.

This, of course, was not the playbook that Gore followed in 2000. The vice president rejected advice to do these things. Instead of claiming victory, he limited himself to suggesting that the result was in doubt -- and unknown -- until a "full and fair" count could be completed. He urged calm among his supporters and called off street protests by progressive groups and allies. He never, ever questioned the legitimacy of the institutions -- the courts or the canvassers -- responsible for the tallies, and he forbade his lawyers and operatives from doing anything of the sort....

***

The playbook that Lopez Obrador must follow, if he wants to keep his prospects alive, is the Bush 2000 playbook. Remember the protesters with "Sore Loserman" signs and the crowds near Observatory Circle shouting, "Get out of Cheney's house"? Remember the "Brooks Brothers Riot," bringing an end to the recount in Miami-Dade County? Remember former secretary of state James A. Baker III's condemnation of the Florida courts, and his harsh words for judges who ruled against the Bush campaign? And above all, remember then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush's repeated refusal to accept Gore's offers of reconciliation, and his unflinching (though counter-factual) insistence that the votes had "already been counted and recounted" and that he was the undisputed winner? If Lopez Obrador has a hope at this point, the Bush 2000 strategy is probably his only option....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070701157.html

[grasswire]

1. and remember that Paul McNulty was promoted from FIXER to...

...to U.S. Attorney to Deputy Attorney General. McNulty was the face of the Florida recount. Now he's in line for AG.

[PATRICK]

2. Offer two remedies

Total clean and accurate recount(probably impossible with attrition in Obrador ballots and thwarted voters already existent).

New election with safeguards against the deficiencies of the last one. This would be fair recourse. the advantages of both would be thus: resentment against the contester versus public anger against fraud. If the net loser is Calderon that would be caused by irregularities for which he alone is responsible and opposed to correcting. This latter choice is a matter of law and correction and satisfaction. Justice. the first is trying to re-establish a spilled gameboard where the cheating has already been done by voter purges.

What is the rush? Do they think the US is going to invade while the law takes its course? The third option, the certifying of the election by majority(party in power) force would be illegitimate in a vast segment of the nation and invite protest rebellion against a clear breach of public trust. They must be prepared to do this if justice itself is slave to a mere 'contest" result. The danger of protests is that
it invites more mob justice possibly in unjust causes. No one on any side should want to force that. The just solution, new election, is more necessary to a democratic nation than any other outcome.

Your most dangerous voting mistake is indifference. That is your iron ballot for slavery.

[MrPrax]

3. Jaw-Dropper!!

The WP printed a deadpan cold dissection of the 2000 coup.

If Lopez Obrador has a hope at this point, the Bush 2000 strategy is probably his only option.

Only option for the Democrats this year.

[soup]

5. scorched earth

>Hence, ironically, even though he is trailing, Lopez Obrador's only hope of victory is a Bush-like, scorched-earth approach; and, though he is leading, Calderòn's best hope for leveraging a narrow margin into governing authority as president would be a Gore-like commitment to a full and fair recount. For Calderòn and Lopez Obrador, the choices -- and consequences -- are firmly in their own hands.<

good read. recommended.

[watrwefitinfor]

4. Off to the Greatest Page with this one!

Jaw-Dropper, indeed.

Wat